In the telecommunications industry, the demand for added capacity is growing rapidly. This demand is being met in part by the increasing use and density of fiber optic transmission equipment. Even though fiber optic equipment permits higher levels of transmission in the same or smaller footprint than traditional copper transmission equipment, the demand requires even higher levels of fiber density. This has led to the development of high-density fiber handling equipment.
Examples of this type of equipment are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,497,444; 5,717,810; 5,758,003; and 6,591,051. These patents disclose systems of high-density fiber distribution frames and high-density termination blocks (FTBs) which are mounted to the frames.
Typically, the splitting of an input signal into multiple output signals has been handled by separate equipment. There is a need to manage more efficiently splitting and termination functions associated with optical fiber systems. Further development in fiber termination systems is desired.